The United States Supreme Court recently decided in a 6-3 decision that the PASPA (Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act) is unconstitutional. That means it’s going to allow for states to go after legalized sports betting.
However, there’s still many obstacles before we can legally place a sports bet as we can get a lotto ticket from the convenience store. As each state introduces bills, the picture will become much more clear as the federal ban on sports betting is no longer.
PASPA was a law passed nearly 30 years ago in 1992 and brought prohibition on sports betting in the United States. Outside of a few states, Nevada the most obviously example, which were grandfathered prior to PASPA. It was found unconstitutional based on states’ rights.
“Congress can regulate sports gambling directly, but if it elects not to do so, each state is free to act on its own.” said Judge Alito, who is a native of New Jersey where PASPA was originally passed, “Our job is to interpret the law Congress has enacted and decide whether it is consistent with the Constitution. PASPA is not.”
With the majority decision, individual states are now open to determine their own rules on whether gambling is should be allowed and how much. It’s not as easy as just allowing it to happen. The states that want to take this up will need to build infrastructure and come up for regulations.
Don’t take this as the Supreme Court caring whether you bet on the NBA or NFL or not, this is more a statement on state’s rights.
Soo… can I legally bet online? Asking for a friend.
Not yet, but it’s very likely in the future you will. Adding casinos and legalizing gambling is a windfall for states, so it’s very likely that many officials are already drafting up bills to get this going. The exact timing all depends on how fast your state introduces bills and laws and regulations to make betting in your state viable.
And we’re not just talking casinos where you can walk in a place a bet, we’re talking a slew of the best apps betting where you can just place a bet like you share a photo on Snapchat. Considering how much technology permeates our lives, betting will be as simple as opening an app on your mobile.
“With technology, apps, and always-on access, it’s something that will be a new form of entertainment that effects us all. said Mark Cuban, the owner of the NBA team Dallas Mavericks, “It could finally become fun to go to a baseball game again.”
With the advent of legalized betting on sports in the United States, it won’t just be brick and mortars, but technology will play a huge role in the form of apps, websites, artificial intelligence and even virtual reality.